▲ Kakao
The Kakao labor union is staging the first strike in the company's history.
The Kakao branch of the Korean Chemical, Textile & Food Workers' Union will hold a partial strike today (June 10) from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and will march around the Pangyo Agit area from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
The march is scheduled to take place over an approximately 800-meter stretch from in front of the Kakao Pangyo Agit to U-Space.
While the union initially notified the police that about 2,000 members would hold a rally from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., it is estimated that about 600 members will actually participate in the protest.
The entities participating in the strike include five companies: Kakao headquarters, Kakao Pay, Kakao Enterprise, DK Techin, and XL Games.
These entities secured the right to strike after mediation at the Gyeonggi Regional Labor Relations Commission failed, and a vote among union members in favor of the strike was passed.
The conflict between Kakao's labor and management is primarily attributed to the performance-based compensation structure.
Kakao headquarters and the union have held differing positions on a plan to provide 13–14% of operating profit as performance bonuses, as well as whether to include 5 million won in Restricted Stock Units (RSU) as part of those bonuses.
The union has demanded performance bonuses equivalent to 13–14% of operating profit, amounting to approximately 10 million won, and has argued against including RSUs in the bonus calculations. However, the company maintains that the union's demands place a significant burden on management.
Nevertheless, the strike is not expected to cause major disruptions to the operation of key services such as KakaoTalk and Kakao Pay.
This is because, due to the nature of the IT industry, essential personnel required for service operations remain on duty, and the systems for major services are automated.
Kakao stated that it will maintain a response system to ensure service stability.
A Kakao official said, "We are a platform company that connects the daily lives of countless users and supports the businesses of small merchants and partners," adding, "Ensuring service stability so that users do not experience any inconvenience under any circumstances is an important responsibility of Kakao."
The official further emphasized, "The company will put in place the necessary response systems and do its best to ensure stable service operations."
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.